Today was Zoe's first day of 3rd grade and the neighborhood and schoolyard was teeming with tiny kindergartners--some who seemed even littler (well, less mature) than Ada.Ada, now 5, is kindergarten age and going to school, but she's going to do her K year at her Montessori school. The school asks families to commit to a full 3 year cycle when enrolling, but sadly most of her classmates parents pulled their kids out in favor of free K at the local elementary schools. I felt a twinge as all of Ada's future classmates (and many of her current friends) marched off with their giant backpacks and matching lunch boxes, but I feel like Ada will get more out of a final year of Montessori (being a leader, doing science projects and working independently) than she will in a traditional kindergarten classroom.
In other news, Zoe grew into the 20" bike I bought at the police auction last summer. She loves it and spends every spare minute tooling round the block in search of her neighborhood buddies. The bigger wheels also help her keep up with us; we biked to our Temple picnic, which was all the way at the north end of Oak Park.
Ada's still on training wheels, but she's picking up speed and happy to ride in the trailer for our longer jaunts.
